Connect/edit sony,canon,panasonic camcorder to Mac

 

July 4, 2011 9:49 am / Posted by Bill Smith to Camcorder Tips
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How do you connect/edit sony,canon,panasonic camcorder to a mac?

I just purchased a Panasonic SDR-H40 camcorder and everything is ok, but the only thing I am missing is I can't download any video to my Mac. I guess the problem is Mac does not support MPEG2 video. Does anyone know how what I need to do in order to get my Mac to read these MPEG2 files?

Things You'll Need:
USB, 4-pin to 6-pin firmware cable
Mac computer (OS X or later)
iMovie software (version 4.0 or later)

Step 1: Open iMovie (included with all Mac's and designated by a camcorder icon on the computer's desktop) or your preferred video editing program.

Step 2: Connect your camcorder to your computer through the USB or firmware port on your computer. Older camcorders will typically use firmware while more recent camcorders typically use USB 2.0. Your camcorder will come with the appropriate cable to connect it.

Step 3: Put your camcorder in "play" mode. The switch on your camcorder should be directly beside where you power it on to record videos.

Step 4: Power the camcorder on.

Step 5: Press the "Import" button that appears on your computer's screen within the video editing program. Your Sony camcorder should start playing your video and importing it onto your computer. If the video does not start importing, press the play button on your camcorder to initiate the video capture.

If the camcorder records standard definition MPEG-2 files(sometimes with MOD or TOD extension),you need to convert them to mp4 or mov that iMovie can deal with. iOrgSoft video converter for mac can do the conversion. Mac Video Converter converts mpeg-2(Mod or mod) file to QuickTime(MOV), MP4, AVI, DV, WMV, 3GP, etc without losing quality.

If the camcorder records high definition AVCHD(with file extension .mts,m2ts,.ts), transcoding the video to a format that mac needs will drop the video out of high def. It would be better if you use a video editor that can deal with MTS files.

iOrgSoft AVCHD Converter for Mac converts AVCHD (.mts/.m2ts/.ts) videos recorded by Panasonic, JVC, Canon, Sony and more AVCHD camcorders to MOV, MPEG-4, DV or M4V for use in apple QuickTime, iTunes, iMovie and Final Cut Pro.